A Clash of Gods - Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Widow
Yang Ning knew that Duan Canghai rose from the ranks because the man had an obvious military bearing. In fact, Yang Ning could also find the soldier-like qualities from Qi Feng and Zhao Wushang.

But he didn’t expect that these three people were all from the Black Scale Camp under the command of Third Lord.

“Third Lord and the general are both the sons of old marquise. Therefore, when Third Lord was young, he began to follow old marquise to fight in the battlefield like the general.” Duan Canghai sighed with emotion, “If it was not for that… Well, Third Lord must be a famous general throughout the land today.”

Yang Ning had a rough idea of the relationships in the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor after he heard this. He asked, “So, you guys returned to the capital after that battle?”

“When the battle between the Black Scale Camp and the Blood Orchid Legion came to an end, there were only dozens of survivors in our camp.” Duan Canghai smiled bitterly, “But the general has always been considerate. When our camp was almost wiped out, troops in support arrived. At that time, the Blood Orchid Legion was also hopeless. They were unable to fight anymore, so they just escaped. That was why we could survive.”

Yang Ning said, “Although your camp was almost completely annihilated, after that battle, the Blood Orchid Camp of the Northern Han State also lost heavily, so the two prefectures north of the Huaishui River were defended.”

Duan Canghai showed a surprised look, and then nodded and said, “Your Excellency, you are indeed a descendent of the family of generals. You can get the points immediately.” He slightly raised his head, and said, “Your Excellency, you are right. Although the Black Scale Camp has ceased to exist since then, the Blood Orchid Legion the Changling Marquis painstakingly managed has also been greatly undermined and can no longer threaten our state.” After a pause, he continued, “The general reported to the imperial court to claim credits for us who survived. Most of them were offered official posts, but we three chose to stay in the mansion.”

“Oh?” Yang Ning asked with curiosity, “Why? Isn’t it good to be officials? Why did you want to stay here and just serve as guards?”

Duan Canghai answered solemnly, “When we followed Third Lord to conquer the battlefield, he has rescued us from the death for many times. Since then on, we swore that we would follow him in this life and never bore other thoughts.” “After the death of Third Lord, we wanted to die with him, but we were dissuaded by the general. He said that since we had no intention of being an official, we could serve as guards in the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor. In this way, we can not only guard the mansion, but also protect Third Lady.”

Yang Ning nodded slightly, thinking that these people were truly loyal men. They would rather serve as guards in this mansion than be prompted as officials. They were more likely to make this decision for the sake of Third Lord than that of the general. After all, the widow of Third Lord was still alive. They probably wanted to protect Third Lady so as to repay the kindness of Third Lord.

No wonder that Third Lady could be the head of this mansion. She was the legal wife of Third Lord, so her status in the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor was naturally very high. It was a pity that such a beautiful lady had become a widow for many years.

Duan Canghai was obviously much more talkative after drinking. In addition, what Yang Ning asked about was his glorious and sentimental memories, so he poured out his history completely.

The sun was setting, and the sky was completely dark. White lanterns with the word “Worship” were lit up everywhere in the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor.

“You just said that my father died because of his old wound? What’s this about?” Yang Ning asked, “Was he seriously injured?”

“General has been fighting in the battlefield for many years, with many wounds on his body,” Duan Canghai said, “The title of Marquis of Honor can only be won by those people who fight bravely in the battlefield and bring honor to the state. Old marquis, the general, and Third Lord all won the honor by themselves, so the scars on their bodies were also a symbol of honor of the Qi Family. At first, the general had already returned to the capital for recuperation. But three years ago, the Northern Han State gathered over tens of thousands of troops and horses and suddenly launched an attack to our state, so the general could only leave the capital to resist their invasion. This battle has lasted for almost three years, so the general has also fought at the front for three years…” His eyes were red, “We all knew that the general’s health was getting steadily worse, and he was tortured by both old and new wounds. But the general knew that once he fell, the Southern Chu State would be in great danger, so he hid his condition from us all the time…”

Yang Ning showed a look of respect, thinking that Qi Jing was also a man of iron will.

“Just a few months ago, the two sides finally reached a peace agreement, and the Northern Han State withdrew their troops.” Duan Canghai forced a smile, “In fact, I don’t know why the Northern Han State withdrew their troops and what kind of peace agreement the two sides reached. I was thinking that after this battle the general could return to the capital to recuperate and slowly recover his health, but…” He shook his head and said, “But no one ever thought that it would be like this. The general actually died from overwork for the Southern Chu State.”

Yang Ning thought that the Marquis of Honor was indeed a model worker. Duan Canghai stood up, “Your Excellency, it’s getting dark. Let’s go back first. You have come back now. Third Lady made her utmost efforts to convince Third Elder Lord and others, so you must never be unworthy of her kind will.”

Yang Ning knew that it took him quite a lot of time to listen to Duan Canghai. Since he was the earl and his father passed away, he still needed to do his filial duties.

When they walked to the mourning hall, Yang Ning asked, “Uncle Duan, are there many escort agencies in the capital?”

“Escort agencies?” Duan Canghai didn’t expect that Yang Ning would ask him about escort agencies, so he was a little puzzled, “Your Excellency, why do you ask this question?”

Yang Ning had prepared an answer long ago, and said, “After I was kidnapped and put in the gunny bag by those spies, I once heard them talking about escort agency.”

Duan Canghai stopped, and his expression immediately became grim. After looking around, he whispered and asked, “Your Excellency, you heard them talking about escort agency? Are there other people from the Jiutian Tower lurking in a certain escort agency?”

Yang Ning said, “I don’t know exactly what happened. At that time, they didn’t speak in a loud voice. I only heard them mentioning escort agency. They also said that it was a top-notch escort agency in the capital. Uncle Duan, what are the top-notch escort agencies in the capital?”

“There are a lot of escort agencies in the capital. As for the top-notch escort agencies, there are three best ones.” Duan Canghai thought for a while, and then said, “The Peace Escort Agency, the Four Seas Escort Agency and the Rising Sun Escort Agency are the most powerful escort agencies in the capital. Have those people mentioned these three escort agencies?”

Yang Ning shook his head, but he was quite excited. He thought that Duan Canghai was really knowledgeable and knew the situations in the capital very well.

He actually had encountered the Four Seas Escort Agency. At that time, he met the escort team of the Four Seas Escort Agency in a tavern where he also met Xiao Guang, who was pursued by the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas.

“It is a good way for them to arrange their spies in an escort agency.” Duan Canghai stroked his thick beard and thought for a while before saying, “However, it is not convenient for our mansion to investigate this matter. I will inform the people in the Mansion of the Divine Marquis and let them investigate. These three escort agencies are not easy to deal with and we don’t have so much energy, so we can just leave it to the Mansion of the Divine Marquis.”

“The Mansion of the Divine Marquis?” Yang Ning asked with curiosity, “Where is it?”

Duan Canghai was a little embarrassed. If he said that the earl was muddled, he would misjudge him because the earl actually spoke logically today. If he said that the earl was smart, he would also misjudge him because the earl didn’t seem to be so sober-minded.

When he was about to explain, a voice sounded, “Brother Duan, you are here? Do you see Third Lady?”

Yang Ning followed the voice, and found that the fat Steward Qiu was coming here.

“Steward Qiu!” Duan Canghai asked, “Are you looking for Third Lady?”

“Yes.” Steward Qiu came over, putting a kind smile on his chubby face. He looked at Yang Ning with his small eyes, and said, “Your Excellency, you must be tired. You can leave the mourning hall and have a good rest later. I have already negotiated with Lady Qiong, and she will let Qi Yu guard the coffin at night. As long as it is dawn, you can guard the coffin.”

“Oh?” Yang Ning couldn’t figure out the background of Steward Qiu, but somehow he had a strong aversion to him when he saw this person. He smiled, “Does Qi Yu still want to contend with me?”

Duan Canghai used to be a soldier. Yang Ning knew that although Duan Canghai was careful, he was quite straightforward and was easy to deal with. But he knew that Steward Qiu was a complex man who was not easy to cope with at first glance. Therefore, he must speak and act cautiously when facing Steward Qiu, so that he could avoid being caught out on details and getting him into great trouble.

Yang Ning believed that so far no one in this mansion had suspected his identity. But if he was careless and incautious and gave himself away, some people would inevitably suspect him.

“Your Excellency, you must be joking.” Steward Qiu laughed and said, “You are the earl in this mansion. How dare Qi Yu contend with you? But although he is a concubine’s son, he is still the son of the Marquis. So even if he is not allowed to see people during the day, we still need to let him do his filial duty at night. The most important thing is that when he guards the spirit of the Marquis at night, you can recuperate and build up energy. There are many things waiting for you. If you don’t sleep day and night, you definitely will be deficient in energy.”

Yang Ning actually did not have much interest in striving for the post of official filial son. He demonstrated his power in the mourning hall today because he disdained this group of people who threw tantrum at Gu Qinghan together. If Qi Yu guarded the mourning hall for him at night, he really would not have any opinion.

“Brother Duan, don’t take the thing happened today to your heart.” Steward Qiu looked at Duan Canghai and said with a smile, “You and I both know the temperament of Fifth Lord. Maybe he is just too irritable today. I just visited Third Elder Lord, and he said that Fifth Lord should not treat you like that.”

Duan Canghai said indifferently, “Steward Qiu, you are too worried. I’m not going to get paranoid about it. We are just servants, so we naturally will not make a fuss about the trifles with our master.”

Steward Qiu said with a smile, “I can hear that you are a little bit angry. But I know you, Brother Duan. You are broad-minded, so you will forget this matter tomorrow morning.” He continued, “Brother Duan, as the steward of the mansion, I must consider many things from the big picture. It is an unquestionable moral truth that the coffin of the general should be guarded by the earl. But we still have to pay attention to the interests of the whole. We can’t completely ignore the requirements of Third Elder Lord. Everything will be okay once the funeral is over. But at present, we still need to maintain the harmony of the Qi Family. Do you think so?”

Duan Canghai said, “Steward Qiu, I am just a guard and only know how to protect the mansion. I shouldn’t have a hand in other things. In fact, I don’t know these things either. But what Third Lady says will never be wrong. So you can discuss with Third Lady about how to consider the overall situation. And I am always free as long as Third Lady needs my favor.”

“Who said that you didn’t consider the overall situation?” A clear and pleasant voice came from behind Yang Ning, “You swallowed insult and humiliation silently in the mourning hall and didn’t act recklessly. That was how you considered the overall situation.”

Yang Ning looked back and saw that Gu Qinghan walked toward them briskly like a white cloud, lovely and charming.